In this paper a modified MEMS foundry process allowing the production of 3D inertial sensors, such as accelerometers, gyroscopes and combinations, is introduced. The new MEMS process is suitable for a wide range of applications that use 3D accelerometers or gyroscopes. One-axis and three-axis designs can be produced with the same process, and the fabrication of complex inertial measurement units, in particular, the assembly process, is simplified.

State of the art polymer strippers were identified and successfully evaluated as interesting alternatives as CMOS-compatible wet activations for semiconductor wafer direct bonding processes, including both high and low temperature annealing for bond interface strengthening. The polymer strippers achieve both excellent surface cleaning and wafer bonding activation by hydrophilization and are therefore a very interesting alternative as semiconductor direct wafer bonding pre-treatment.

Hermetic sealing is important regarding functionality and reliability for MEMS components. Typically this sealing is done on the wafer level using wafer bonding which simultaneously also provides mechanical protective caps. However, inner pressure and hermeticity testing and monitoring a still a critical issue; therefore, in this paper a test structure adapted to a MEMS foundry process for inertial sensors is introduced.

Ever been stuck with the “one product, one process” rule when what you really needed was access to a world-class quality process for multiple applications? Not anymore. X-FAB is presenting a webinar on its open-platform MEMS inertial sensor processes including its new 3D inertial sensor technology. Learn how you can use X-FAB’s design partner, MicroMountains Applications, or apply your own design to X-FAB’s ready-to-use processes to run high or low wafer volumes without long and costly process development. Find out how X-FAB can help you get to market faster and secure high-quality manufacturing for inertial sensors. You’ll get an overview of both inertial sensor technologies and IP blocks from X-FAB, as well as design and test support from MicroMountains Applications.

X-FAB, a pure play foundry, has already extensive experience in volume production of monolithic integrated MEMS devices. The idea of combining CMOS and MEMS processes to obtain monolithic integrated sensor solutions is a logical, consequent step following the “More than Moore” strategy.

Moore’s law has been a strong influence on mainstream microelectronics over the past few decades, where the trends of decreasing feature size and increasing transistor count have driven the semiconductor industry forward. This philosophy has worked very well for memories and microprocessors in the digital world. Additional analog functions, by interfacing with the physical world, enable cost-optimized and value-added system solutions.

Based on specific technology flows, various surface layers are bonded by glass frit wafer bonding. In this paper, the behaviour of typical layers, such as TEOS, Nitride and thermal oxide, and their effect on the bonding results are introduced.

In this paper, micromachined acceleration sensors as ready-to-use Intellectual-Property-Blocks (IP-Blocks) are introduced. These standard elements are available for a special surface micromachining foundry technology. They are ready to use, characterized and qualified design elements, which can be customized by changing the peripheral elements such as bond pads, and allow the fast prototyping and production start of high-performance inertial sensors.

In the past five years we have seen a huge step in the evolution of MEMS applications. Some may even call it a revolution. Traditionally, Inkjet printer heads and automotive applications have dominated MEMS volume production. Today, demand for MEMS is particularly high in the consumer and mobile sector with further applications appearing every day. Part of this MEMS revolution has been the changing requirements for associated ASIC CMOS intelligence. Many manufacturers who currently use discrete MEMS devices are now seeing the benefits of integrated CMOS.

In this paper we describe a novel tool for modeling the fabrication of MEMS and semiconductor devices, and show some examples of its application in the MEMS foundry business. The tool allows an accurate visualization of the step-by-step crreation of the final 3-D device geometry by using the 2-D layout and a description of the fabrication process.